"Carlisle, please... I don't want the same thing to happen to Bella again. I don't want to put her in danger because of us..."
Edward pleaded with Carlisle, who was considering his decision. Carlisle then looked at Esme, and she nodded.
Alice turned towards Carlisle and said, "Carlisle, you can't..."
"I agree with Edward." Suddenly, Emmett and Rosalie appeared in the living room.
"Rosalie..." Alice said with a sad tone, as she slumped back on the sofa alongside Mikael.
"I'm sorry, Alice... we can't risk it," Rosalie said apologetically.
"We also agree with Edward," Jasper and Thea also appeared in the living room, and Jasper agreed with Edward.
"I'm also sorry, Alice, for ruining your birthday plan for Bella. And Edward, I hope you forgive me," Jasper said apologetically. He also sensed everyone's emotions in the room. Edward was the most complicated, Alice had the saddest emotion, and Mikael seemed calm. Jasper felt no emotion from him at all.
"Then we all agree, except Alice. What about you, Mikael?" Carlisle declared.
"Hmm... before I decide, I want to ask Jasper and Edward something," Mikael said with a serious tone.
Everyone raised an eyebrow and had a look of confusion on their faces, except Edward, who still had no expression at all since he came back from Bella's house.
"It's about Alistair. Jasper, for the past few days, what have you been feeling from him? What emotions did he display when he was with all of you?" Mikael asked, his gaze fixed on Jasper.
Jasper nodded and said, "I felt that he was anxious, curious, and afraid."
Mikael nodded, then looked towards Edward and said, "And you, Edward, earlier when the accident happened, did you happen to read his mind?"
Edward blinked his eyes, seemingly thinking about the earlier accident. He then nodded at Mikael and said, "All he thought about was running."
Mikael then entered a thoughtful state and remained silent for a few minutes until he finally said, "Alright, I've decided that I'll stay for a few days. And Carlisle, may I use your study room?"
"Are you still thinking about the people behind Alistair? Alright then, you can use it however you like. You can also use my computer if you need to," Carlisle answered, smiling.
"Wait, people behind Alistair? What are you talking about?" Thea said, confused.
Mikael and Carlisle nodded at each other and discussed their earlier conversation about Alistair. They talked about his strange behavior since he arrived in Forks a few days ago. Mikael concluded that Alistair was merely a pawn collecting information from them. This, of course, shocked Jasper, Thea, Emmett, Rosalie, and, to our surprise, Edward.
"I knew that he was weird!" Emmett suddenly said, and he continued, "When we asked him to go for a hunt, he always refuses."
"Yeah, I thought that he was still full from the human he killed before, or he doesn't prefer animal blood." Thea nodded in agreement.
"And I thought he went on a killing spree among the townspeople," Edward said with a relieved yet worried expression.
"Then, do we know who ordered Alistair?" Rosalie asked, with confusion on her face.
"Unfortunately, no, we don't know anything about them. That's why I wanted to search for them in Carlisle's study room. Maybe I can find something," Mikael answered.
"Do you need our help? maybe we can search for them when we're out there," Carlisle asked.
Mikael just shook his head and said, "No, but thank you for the offer. I'll handle this myself. On the contrary, I'm the one who should be worried about you guys. What if they went for you? So, I want you guys to do me a favor... Be careful out there."
Carlisle and the rest of them smiled and nodded in understanding. Carlisle then asked, "When do you want us to depart, Edward?"
"Tonight, at midnight, we'll leave Forks. But, I'll go alone..." Edward answered with a pained expression.
Carlisle nodded in understanding and said to his family, "Very well, let's prepare our stuff, and I'll go handle the school and everything else."
The Cullens nodded and went to their room. Carlisle then bid farewell to Esme and went out to his car.
"Before you go, Mikael, do you want to eat first? I've made quite a lot of food for you and Bella. But, because of the earlier accident, she hadn't had a chance to taste it, so if you want to, it's all yours," Esme offered while smiling at Mikael and Alice.
"Well, a little food won't hurt," Mikael smirked at Alice, who was pouting. He then led her to the dining room.
...
[ A few Hours Later - The ??? Bookstore - Branch 1869 ]
The bald man, who was the leader of the Daggers, can be seen talking to someone in one of the rooms at the bookstore. He seemed to be paying attention to the man who was in front of him.
"So, what's the member of The Eyes doing here?"
"I was here because of Lady Fifth's order. She ordered that we had to collect information from our target."
The bald man nodded in understanding and gestured for his assistant, the woman who was always by his side, to hand him the files that contained Mikael's information.
The member of The Eyes expressed his gratitude and said, "We also want to inform you that the Cullens have been sighted leaving the state of Washington. However, they are separated and there is no indication of the target."
The bald man frowned after hearing that, then he said, "Can you search Forks and look for the target?"
The Eyes' member shook his head and said, "Negative, we have no authorization there as it is your Daggers that have it."
"Then we give you permission."
"Negative, in order to act, we need the higher ups' confirmation, which in this case, Lady Fifth," said the Eyes' member while shaking his head again.
The bald man could only nod in understanding, the Eyes' member then bid his farewell.
"Why haven't we received any information from Alistair? Where is he!?" the bald man asked angrily.
...
Meanwhile, we can see Alistair were still running and we can see a panicked expression on his face.
"Damn! Oh no! I messed up! I abandoned the mission and fled! If they discover this, they will surely kill me! I must escape as far as possible!" Alistair said with a look of fear in his eyes.
.
.
.
You can support me here and get more chapters in advance;
p@treon.com/tikuskecetit